Alexandra's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 25 Jun 2017 12:06:09 -0700 60 Alexandra's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Narcissus and Goldmund 5954 Narcissus and Goldmund tells the story of two medieval men whose characters are diametrically opposite: Narcissus, an ascetic monk firm in his religious commitment, and Goldmund, a romantic youth hungry for knowledge and worldly experience. First published in 1930, Hesse's novel remains a moving and pointed exploration of the conflict between the life of the spirit and the life of the flesh. It is a theme that transcends all time.]]> 315 Hermann Hesse 0374506841 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.26 1930 Narcissus and Goldmund
author: Hermann Hesse
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1930
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/06/25
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<![CDATA[The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World]]> 3675893
How can we expect to find happiness and meaning in our lives when the modern world seems such an unhappy place?

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has suffered enormously throughout his life, yet he always seems to be smiling and serene. How does he do it? In The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World , Dr. Cutler walks readers through the Dalai Lama's philosophy on how to achieve peace of mind and come to terms with life's inherent suffering. Together, the two examine the roots of many of the problems facing the world and show us how we can approach these calamities in a way that alleviates suffering, and helps us along in our personal quests to be happy. Through stories, meditations, and in-depth conversations, the Dalai Lama teaches readers to identify the cultural influences and ways of thinking that lead to personal unhappiness, making sense of the hardships we face personally, as well as the afflictions suffered by others.]]>
368 Dalai Lama XIV 0767920643 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 3.70 2008 The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World
author: Dalai Lama XIV
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/02/06
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<![CDATA[Love Louder: 33 Ways to Spark Inspiration and Amplify Your Life]]> 27274364 160 Preston Smiles 1501120158 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.14 Love Louder: 33 Ways to Spark Inspiration and Amplify Your Life
author: Preston Smiles
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.14
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rating: 0
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date added: 2017/02/06
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<![CDATA[Managing Depression with Mindfulness For Dummies]]> 23059915
If you suffer from depression, you know that it′s not something you can simply snap yourself out of. Depression is a potentially debilitating condition that must be treated and managed with care, but not knowing where to turn for help can make an already difficult time feel even more harrowing. Thankfully, Managing Depression with Mindfulness For Dummies offers authoritative and sensitive guidance on using evidence based and NHS approved Mindfulness Based Interventions similar to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help empower you to rise above depression and discover a renewed sense of emotional wellbeing and happiness. The book offers cutting edge self-management mindfulness techniques which will help you make sense of your condition and teach you how to relate differently to negative thought patterns which so often contribute to low mood and depression. The World Health Organization predicts that more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem by the year 2030. While the statistics are staggering, they offer a small glimmer of hope: you aren′t alone. As we continue to learn more about how depression works and how it can be treated, the practice of mindfulness proves to be an effective tool for alleviating stress, anxiety, depression, low self–esteem, and insomnia. With the tips and guidance offered inside, you′ll learn how to apply the practice of mindfulness
to ease your symptoms of depression and get your life back. Whether you are struggling with low mood or simply wish to learn mindfulness as a way of enriching your life, Managing Depression with Mindfulness For Dummies serves as a beacon of light and hope on your journey to rediscovering your sense of wellbeing, joy and happiness.]]>
208 Robert Gebka 1119029554 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 3.26 2015 Managing Depression with Mindfulness For Dummies
author: Robert Gebka
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/02/06
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<![CDATA[The Joy Compass: Eight Ways to Find Lasting Happiness, Gratitude, and Optimism in the Present Moment]]> 13436411 184 Donald Altman MA LPC 1608822834 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 3.85 2012 The Joy Compass: Eight Ways to Find Lasting Happiness, Gratitude, and Optimism in the Present Moment
author: Donald Altman MA LPC
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[GOOD GRIEF RITUALS: Tools for Healing (Healing Companion)]]> 137122 124 Elaine Childs-Gowell 0882681184 Alexandra 4 2017 3.79 1992 GOOD GRIEF RITUALS: Tools for Healing (Healing Companion)
author: Elaine Childs-Gowell
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1992
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/02/06
shelves: 2017
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Leaving Time 18816603 398 Jodi Picoult 0345544927 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 3.96 2014 Leaving Time
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/02/06
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Tender Is the Night 46164 Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character, Tender Is the Night is lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative.]]> 430 F. Scott Fitzgerald Alexandra 0 currently-reading 3.81 1934 Tender Is the Night
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1934
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Burning Down George Orwell's House]]> 22889888 A darkly comic debut novel about advertising, truth, single malt, Scottish hospitality—or lack thereof—and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Ray Welter, who was until recently a highflying advertising executive in Chicago, has left the world of newspeak behind. He decamps to the isolated Scottish Isle of Jura in order to spend a few months in the cottage where George Orwell wrote most of his seminal novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Ray is miserable, and quite prepared to make his troubles go away with the help of copious quantities of excellent scotch.

But a few of the local islanders take a decidedly shallow view of a foreigner coming to visit in order to sort himself out, and Ray quickly finds himself having to deal with not only his own issues but also a community whose eccentricities are at times amusing and at others downright dangerous. Also, the locals believe—or claim to believe—that there’s a werewolf about, and against his better judgment, Ray’s misadventures build to the night of a traditional, boozy werewolf hunt on the Isle of Jura on the summer solstice.]]>
272 Andrew Ervin 1616954949 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 3.51 2015 Burning Down George Orwell's House
author: Andrew Ervin
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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The Plover 17934485 Mink River

Declan O Donnell has left Oregon aboard his boat, the Plover, to escape the life that’s so troubled him on land. He sets course west into the Pacific in search of solitude. Instead, he finds a crew, each in search of something themselves, and what at first seems a lonely sea voyage becomes a rapturous, heartfelt celebration of life’s surprising paths, planned and unplanned.]]>
311 Brian Doyle 1250034779 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.18 2014 The Plover
author: Brian Doyle
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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The Lost & Found 23253261 Let’s Get Lost and Margo Rabb’s Kissing in America.

LOST

Frannie and Louis met online when they were both little and have been pen pals ever since. They have never met face-to-face, and they don’t know each other’s real names. All they know is that they both have a mysterious tendency to lose things. Well, really, things just seem to . . . disappear.

FOUND

Louis and Frannie both receive news in the mail that sets them off on a road trip to Austin, Texas, looking for answers—and each other. Along the way, each one begins to find, as if by magic, important things the other has lost. And by the time they finally meet in person, they realize that the things you lose might be things you weren’t meant to have at all, and that you never know what you might find if you just take a chance.]]>
339 Katrina Leno 0062231227 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.73 2016 The Lost & Found
author: Katrina Leno
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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The Great American Whatever 25663382
Enter Geoff, Quinn’s best friend who insists it’s time that Quinn came out—at least from hibernation. One haircut later, Geoff drags Quinn to his first college party, where instead of nursing his pain, he meets a guy—a hot one—and falls hard. What follows is an upside-down week in which Quinn begins imagining his future as a screenplay that might actually have a happily-ever-after ending—if, that is, he can finally step back into the starring role of his own life story.]]>
288 Tim Federle Alexandra 0 to-read 3.68 2016 The Great American Whatever
author: Tim Federle
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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We Are the Ants 23677341 The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley comes a brand-new novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving.

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button.

Only he isn’t sure he wants to.

After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year.

Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him.

But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it…or let the world—and his pain—be destroyed forever.]]>
455 Shaun David Hutchinson 148144963X Alexandra 0 4.12 2016 We Are the Ants
author: Shaun David Hutchinson
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/03/28
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<![CDATA[The Unfinished World and Other Stories]]> 25622828 The Unfinished World and Other Stories heralds the arrival of a major writer and illuminates the search for a brief encounter with the extraordinary.]]> 226 Amber Sparks 1631490907 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.78 2016 The Unfinished World and Other Stories
author: Amber Sparks
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/03/20
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<![CDATA[In the Land of Armadillos: Stories]]> 25814227
1942. With the Nazi Party at the height of its power, the occupying army empties Poland’s towns and cities of their Jewish populations. As neighbor turns on neighbor and survival often demands unthinkable choices, Poland has become a moral quagmire—a place of shifting truths and blinding ambiguities.

Blending folklore and fact, Helen Maryles Shankman shows us the people of Wlodawa, a remote Polish town: we meet a cold-blooded SS officer dedicated to rescuing the creator of his son’s favorite picture book, even as he helps exterminate the artist’s friends and family; a Messiah who appears in a little boy’s bedroom to announce that he is quitting; a young Jewish girl who is hidden by the town’s most outspoken anti-Semite—and his talking dog. And walking among these tales are two unforgettable figures: the enigmatic and silver-tongued Willy Reinhart, Commandant of the forced labor camp who has grand schemes to protect “his� Jews, and Soroka, the Jewish saddlemaker and his family, struggling to survive.
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304 Helen Maryles Shankman 1501115197 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.44 2016 In the Land of Armadillos: Stories
author: Helen Maryles Shankman
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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You Should Pity Us Instead 25330175
You Should Pity Us Instead explores some of our toughest dilemmas: the cost of Middle East strife at its most intimate level, the likelihood of God considered in day-to-day terms, the moral stakes of family obligations, and the inescapable fact of mortality. Amy Gustine exhibits an extraordinary generosity toward her characters, instilling them with a thriving, vivid presence.]]>
256 Amy Gustine 1941411193 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.68 2016 You Should Pity Us Instead
author: Amy Gustine
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/03/20
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Fox Tooth Heart 25330182 240 John McManus 194141110X Alexandra 0 to-read 3.35 2015 Fox Tooth Heart
author: John McManus
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/03/20
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Cities I've Never Lived In 25666066 Cities I've Never Lived In offers stories that reveal, with great sadness and great humor, the ways we are most of all citizens of the places where we cannot be.

Cities I've Never Lived In is the second book in Graywolf's collaboration with the literary magazine A Public Space.]]>
160 Sara Majka 1555977316 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.50 2016 Cities I've Never Lived In
author: Sara Majka
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/03/20
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Dog Run Moon 25489089 The New Yorker, Granta, and The Best American Short Stories.

A construction worker on the run from the shady local businessman whose dog he has stolen; a Custer’s Last Stand reenactor engaged in a long-running affair with the Native American woman who slays him on the battlefield every year; a middle-aged high school janitor caught in a scary dispute over land and cattle with her former stepson: Callan Wink’s characters are often confronted with predicaments few of us can imagine. But thanks to the humor and remarkable empathy of this supremely gifted writer, the nine stories gathered in Dog Run Moon are universally transporting and resonant.

Set mostly in Montana and Wyoming, near the borders of Yellowstone National Park, this revelatory collection combines unforgettable insight into the fierce beauty of the West with a powerful understanding of human beings. Tender, frequently hilarious, and always electrifying, Dog Run Moon announces the arrival of a bold new talent writing deep in the American grain.]]>
240 Callan Wink 0812993772 Alexandra 5 4.06 2016 Dog Run Moon
author: Callan Wink
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2016
rating: 5
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date added: 2016/03/20
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Fellside 26030697
It's a place where even the walls whisper.

And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess.

Will she listen?]]>
486 M.R. Carey 0316300284 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.53 2016 Fellside
author: M.R. Carey
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/03/20
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<![CDATA[Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark]]> 121000 367 Bernadette Brady 1578631122 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.39 1992 Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark
author: Bernadette Brady
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/03/08
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<![CDATA[Intimacy: Trusting Oneself and the Other]]> 97001
This quality has very little to do with the physical, though sex is certainly one possible door. Far more important is a willingness to expose our deepest feelings and vulnerabilities, with the trust that the other person will treat them with care. Ultimately, the willingness to take the risk of intimacy has to be grounded in an inner strength that knows that even if the other remains closed, even if that trust is betrayed, we will not suffer any permanent damage.

In this gentle and compassionate guide, Osho takes his readers step-by-step through what makes people afraid of intimacy, how to encounter those fears and go beyond them, and what they can do to nourish themselves and their relationships to support more openness and trust.

OSHO challenges readers to examine and break free of the conditioned belief systems and prejudices that limit their capacity to life in all its richness. He has been described by the Sunday Times of London as one of the "1000 Makers of the 20th Century" and by Sunday Mid-Day (India) as one of the ten people-along with Gandhi, Nehru, and Buddha-who have changed the destiny of India. More than a decade after his death in 1990, the influence of his teachings continues to expand, reaching seekers of all ages in virtually every country of the world.]]>
172 Osho 0312275668 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.19 2001 Intimacy: Trusting Oneself and the Other
author: Osho
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need]]> 120991 461 Joanna Martine Woolfolk 1589793102 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.24 1982 The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need
author: Joanna Martine Woolfolk
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/02/16
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Darkside Zodiac 105761 400 Stella Hyde Alexandra 0 to-read 3.94 2004 Darkside Zodiac
author: Stella Hyde
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/02/16
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<![CDATA[The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts: A Riveting Investigation Into Channeling and Spirit Guides]]> 577464 313 Joe Fisher 1931044023 Alexandra 3 4.29 1990 The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts: A Riveting Investigation Into Channeling and Spirit Guides
author: Joe Fisher
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1990
rating: 3
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<![CDATA[The Nature of Personal Reality: Specific, Practical Techniques for Solving Everyday Problems and Enriching the Life You Know (Jane Roberts)]]> 422356 480 Jane Roberts 1878424068 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 4.48 1974 The Nature of Personal Reality: Specific, Practical Techniques for Solving Everyday Problems and Enriching the Life You Know (Jane Roberts)
author: Jane Roberts
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.48
book published: 1974
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/02/01
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Gil's All Fright Diner 225606 Fried Green Tomatoes!
Funnier than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!

Welcome to Gil's All Night Diner, where zombie attacks are a regular occurrence and you never know what might be lurking in the freezer. . . .

Duke and Earl are just passing through Rockwood county in their pick-up truck when they stop at the diner for a quick bite to eat. They aren't planning to stick around--until Loretta, the eatery'sowner, offers them one hundred dollars to take care of her zombie problem. Given that Duke is a werewolf and Earl's a vampire, this looks right up their alley.

But the shambling dead are just the tip of a particularly spiky iceberg. Seems someone's out to drive Loretta from the diner, and more than willing to raise a little hell on earth if that's what it takes. Before Duke and Earl get to the bottom of the diner's troubles, they'll run into such otherworldly complications as undead cattle, an amorous ghost, a jailbait sorceress, and the terrifying occult power of pig Latin.

And maybe--just maybe--the End of the World, too.

Gory, sexy, and flat-out hilarious, Gil's All Fright Diner will tickle your funny bone--before ripping it out of its socket!]]>
287 A. Lee Martinez 0765350017 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.86 2005 Gil's All Fright Diner
author: A. Lee Martinez
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/12
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Church of Marvels 25308876 A ravishing first novel, set in vibrant, tumultuous turn-of-the-century New York City, where the lives of four outsiders become entwined, bringing irrevocable change to them all

New York, 1895. Sylvan Threadgill, a night soiler cleaning out the privies behind the tenement houses, finds an abandoned newborn baby in the muck. An orphan himself, Sylvan rescues the child, determined to find where she belongs.

Odile Church and her beautiful sister, Belle, were raised amid the applause and magical pageantry of The Church of Marvels, their mother’s spectacular Coney Island sideshow. But the Church has burnt to the ground, their mother dead in its ashes. Now Belle, the family’s star, has vanished into the bowels of Manhattan, leaving Odile alone and desperate to find her.

A young woman named Alphie awakens to find herself trapped across the river in Blackwell’s Lunatic Asylum—sure that her imprisonment is a ruse by her husband’s vile, overbearing mother. On the ward she meets another young woman of ethereal beauty who does not speak, a girl with an extraordinary talent that might save them both.

As these strangers� lives become increasingly connected, their stories and secrets unfold. Moving from the Coney Island seashore to the tenement-studded streets of the Lower East Side, a spectacular human circus to a brutal, terrifying asylum, Church of Marvels takes readers back to turn-of-the-century New York—a city of hardship and dreams, love and loneliness, hope and danger. In magnetic, luminous prose, Leslie Parry offers a richly atmospheric vision of the past in a narrative of astonishing beauty, full of wondrous enchantments-a marvelous debut that will leave readers breathless.]]>
308 Leslie Parry 0062367552 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.74 2015 Church of Marvels
author: Leslie Parry
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/12
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Violin 31333 289 Anne Rice 8466302204 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.36 1997 Violin
author: Anne Rice
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.36
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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Love May Fail 23287159
Will a sassy nun, an ex-heroin addict, a metal-head little boy, and her hoarder mother help or hurt Portia's chances on this quest to resurrect a good man and find renewed hope in the human race? Love May Fail is a story of the great highs and lows of existence: the heartache and daring choices it takes to become the person you know (deep down) you are meant to be.]]>
401 Matthew Quick 0062285564 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.51 2015 Love May Fail
author: Matthew Quick
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/12
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The Incarnations 23492504 Who are you? You must be wondering. I am your soulmate, your old friend, and I have come back to this city of sixteen million in search of you.

So begins the first letter that falls into Wang’s lap as he flips down the visor in his taxi. The letters that follow are filled with the stories of Wang’s previous lives—from escaping a marriage to a spirit bride, to being a slave on the run from Genghis Khan, to living as a fisherman during the Opium Wars, and being a teenager on the Red Guard during the cultural revolution—bound to his mysterious “soulmate,� spanning one thousand years of betrayal and intrigue.

As the letters continue to appear seemingly out of thin air, Wang becomes convinced that someone is watching him—someone who claims to have known him for over one thousand years. And with each letter, Wang feels the watcher growing closer and closer�

Seamlessly weaving Chinese folklore, history, and literary classics, The Incarnations is a taut and gripping novel that sheds light on the cyclical nature of history as it hints that the past is never truly settled.]]>
371 Susan Barker 1501106783 Alexandra 4 3.75 2014 The Incarnations
author: Susan Barker
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2014
rating: 4
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date added: 2016/01/12
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The Water Knife 23209924
When rumours of a game-changing water source surface, Las Vegas dispatches elite water knife Angel Velasquez to Phoenix to investigate. There, he discovers hardened journalist Lucy Monroe, who holds the secret to the water source Angel seeks. But Angel isn't the only one hunting for water, Lucy is no pushover, and the death of a despised water knife is a small price to pay in return for the life-giving flow of a river.]]>
371 Paolo Bacigalupi 0385352875 Alexandra 0 currently-reading 3.81 2015 The Water Knife
author: Paolo Bacigalupi
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/01/12
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Crooked Heart 19546111
Noel's mourning his godmother, Mattie, a former suffragette. Brought up to share her disdain for authority and eclectic approach to education, he has little in common with other children and even less with Vee, who hurtles impulsively from one self-made crisis to the next. The war's thrown up new opportunities for making money but what Vee needs (and what she's never had) is a cool head and the ability to make a plan.

On her own, she's a disaster. With Noel, she's a team.

Together they cook up an idea. Criss-crossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life.

But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn't actually safe at all…]]>
284 Lissa Evans 0385614330 Alexandra 0 3.86 2014 Crooked Heart
author: Lissa Evans
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2015/12/01
date added: 2015/12/13
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Fledgling 60925 Fledgling, Octavia Butler's new novel after a seven year break, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly inhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted - and still wants - to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.]]> 310 Octavia E. Butler 0446696161 Alexandra 4 3.80 2005 Fledgling
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2015/12/13
date added: 2015/12/13
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The Elephant Vanishes 9555
With the same deadpan mania and genius for dislocation that he brought to his internationally acclaimed novels A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami makes this collection of stories a determined assault on the normal. A man sees his favorite elephant vanish into thin air; a newlywed couple suffers attacks of hunger that drive them to hold up a McDonald's in the middle of the night; and a young woman discovers that she has become irresistible to a little green monster who burrows up through her backyard.

By turns haunting and hilarious, The Elephant Vanishes is further proof of Murakami's ability to cross the border between separate realities -- and to come back bearing treasure.]]>
327 Haruki Murakami Alexandra 0 to-read 3.88 1993 The Elephant Vanishes
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1993
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/12/10
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Sarah's Key 556602
Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's sixtieth anniversary, Julia Jarmond, an American journalist, is asked by her Paris-based American magazine to write an article about this black day in France's past. Julia has lived in Paris for nearly twenty-five years, married a Frenchman, and she is shocked both by her ignorance about the event and the silence that still surrounds it. In the course of her investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connects her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from the terrible days spent shut in at the Vel' d'Hiv' to the camps and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

Writing about the fate of her country with a pitiless clarity, Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and denial surrounding this painful episode in French history.
(front flap)]]>
294 Tatiana de Rosnay 0312370830 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.18 2006 Sarah's Key
author: Tatiana de Rosnay
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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Water for Elephants 43641
Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.]]>
368 Sara Gruen 1565125606 Alexandra 4 4.11 2006 Water for Elephants
author: Sara Gruen
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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Great Expectations 2623
Pip must discover his true self, and his own set of values and priorities. Whether such values allow one to prosper in the complex world of early Victorian England is the major question posed by Great Expectations, one of Dickens's most fascinating, and disturbing, novels.

This edition includes the original, discarded ending, Dickens's brief working notes, and the serial instalments and chapter divisions in different editions. It also uses the definitive Clarendon text.]]>
544 Charles Dickens 0192833596 Alexandra 0 own 3.78 1861 Great Expectations
author: Charles Dickens
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1861
rating: 0
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 14891 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.]]> 496 Betty Smith 0061120073 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.29 1943 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
author: Betty Smith
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1943
rating: 0
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A Prayer for Owen Meany 4473 637 John Irving 0552135399 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.24 1989 A Prayer for Owen Meany
author: John Irving
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1989
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1)]]> 43763
Louis and Claudia travel Europe, eventually coming to Paris and the ragingly successful Theatre des Vampires--a theatre of vampires pretending to be mortals pretending to be vampires. Here they meet the magnetic and ethereal Armand, who brings them into a whole society of vampires. But Louis and Claudia find that finding others like themselves provides no easy answers and in fact presents dangers they scarcely imagined.

Originally begun as a short story, the book took off as Anne wrote it, spinning the tragic and triumphant life experiences of a soul. As well as the struggles of its characters, Interview captures the political and social changes of two continents. The novel also introduces Lestat, Anne's most enduring character, a heady mixture of attraction and revulsion. The book, full of lush description, centers on the themes of immortality, change, loss, sexuality, and power.
source: annerice.com]]>
346 Anne Rice 0345476875 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.04 1976 Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1)
author: Anne Rice
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1976
rating: 0
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The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error� are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills � and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit � he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

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384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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Divergent (Divergent, #1) 13335037
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.]]>
487 Veronica Roth 0062024035 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.13 2011 Divergent (Divergent, #1)
author: Veronica Roth
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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The Island of Dr. Moreau 29981 Librarian note: An alternative cover for this ISBN can be found here.

Ranked among the classic novels of the English language and the inspiration for several unforgettable movies, this early work of H. G. Wells was greeted in 1896 by howls of protest from reviewers, who found it horrifying and blasphemous. They wanted to know more about the wondrous possibilities of science shown in his first book, The Time Machine, not its potential for misuse and terror. In The Island of Dr. Moreau, a shipwrecked gentleman named Edward Prendick, stranded on a Pacific island lorded over by the notorious Dr. Moreau, confronts dark secrets, strange creatures, and a reason to run for his life.

While this riveting tale was intended to be a commentary on evolution, divine creation, and the tension between human nature and culture, modern readers familiar with genetic engineering will marvel at Wells’s prediction of the ethical issues raised by producing “smarter� human beings or bringing back extinct species. These levels of interpretation add a richness to Prendick’s adventures on Dr. Moreau’s island of lost souls without distracting from what is still a rip-roaring good read.]]>
160 H.G. Wells 0553214322 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.73 1896 The Island of Dr. Moreau
author: H.G. Wells
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1896
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story (The Gap Cycle #1)]]> 427353
But one person in Mallorys Bar wasn't intimidated. Nick Succorso had his own reputation as a bold pirate and he had a sleek frigate fitted for deep space. Everyone knew that Thermopyle and Succorso were on a collision course. What nobody expected was how quickly it would be over - or how devastating victory would be. It was common enough example of rivalry and revenge - or so everyone thought. The REAL story was something entirely different.]]>
241 Stephen R. Donaldson 0553295098 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.72 1990 The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story (The Gap Cycle #1)
author: Stephen R. Donaldson
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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Woman on the Edge of Time 772888
But Connie also bears witness to another potential outcome: a dystopian society of grotesque exploitation. One will become our world. And Connie herself may strike the decisive blow...]]>
376 Marge Piercy 0449210820 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.94 1976 Woman on the Edge of Time
author: Marge Piercy
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1976
rating: 0
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Bloodchild and Other Stories 60930
Appearing in print for the first time, "Amnesty" is a story of a woman named Noah who works to negotiate the tense and co-dependent relationship between humans and a species of invaders. Also new to this collection is "The Book of Martha" which asks: What would you do if God granted you the ability—and responsibility—to save humanity from itself?
Like all of Octavia Butler’s best writing, these works of the imagination are parables of the contemporary world. She proves constant in her vigil, an unblinking pessimist hoping to be proven wrong, and one of contemporary literature’s strongest voices.

Bloodchild
The evening and the morning and the night
Near of kin
Speech sounds
Crossover
Positive obsession
Furor scribendi
Amnesty
The Book of Martha]]>
214 Octavia E. Butler 1583226982 Alexandra 0 4.35 1995 Bloodchild and Other Stories
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1995
rating: 0
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The Art of Love 100142 199 Ovid 0375761179 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.89 2 The Art of Love
author: Ovid
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2
rating: 0
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Metamorphoses 1715
In Metamophoses, Ovid brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation—often as a result of love or lust—where men and women find themselves magically changed into new and sometimes extraordinary beings. Beginning with the creation of the world and ending with the deification of Augustus, Ovid interweaves many of the best-known myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy. Erudite but light-hearted, dramatic and yet playful, Metamorphoses has influenced writers and artists throughout the centuries from Shakespeare and Titian to Picasso and Ted Hughes.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]>
723 Ovid 014044789X Alexandra 0 to-read 4.08 8 Metamorphoses
author: Ovid
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 8
rating: 0
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Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1) 22328 Alternate cover for ISBN: 9780441569595

Case was the sharpest data thief in the Matrix, until an ex-employer crippled his nervous system. Now a new employer has recruited him for a last-chance run against an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence. With a mirror-eyed girl street-samurai riding shotgun, he's ready for the silicon-quick, bleakly prophetic adventure that upped the ante on an entire genre of fiction.]]>
271 William Gibson Alexandra 0 to-read 3.87 1984 Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1)
author: William Gibson
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1984
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934]]> 46064 384 Anaïs Nin 0156260255 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.15 The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934
author: Anaïs Nin
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/03/24
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<![CDATA[Norman Vincent Peale: Three Complete Books: The Power of Positive Thinking; The Positive Principle Today; Enthusiasm Makes the Difference]]> 21079 608 Norman Vincent Peale 0517084724 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.32 1992 Norman Vincent Peale: Three Complete Books: The Power of Positive Thinking; The Positive Principle Today; Enthusiasm Makes the Difference
author: Norman Vincent Peale
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Love Quotes for the Ages. Specifically Ages 19-91.]]> 17403270
God knew the world is a dark place, and seeing as he’d already said “Let there be light!� he instead chose to say “Let there be love!”�

Now I don’t know, maybe I dreamt this whole encounter with God while I was dreaming in the womb, I can’t be certain. Dreams within dreams are like a fog machine on a misty morning. �

I couldn’t even tell you with certainty when or where I was born. My mother could have lied to me about both the when and the where of my birth. And who’s my real father? Is it God? She says it’s not, but is she to be believed? We’ve already established there could be some doubt as to her credibility, so maybe I am half God. �

I won’t say I’m divine, but I will admit to being a dreamer. And is there anything more Godly than a dream? The answer is yes—love is the Godliest thing next to a beard as old as time. �

But I’ll stop rambling long enough for you to buy my book, read it, and share the love with the world. Because I don’t think anybody can argue that the world doesn’t need more love. Well, maybe Satan might make that argument. But who’s going to listen to a talking salad?]]>
40 Dark Jar Tin Zoo Alexandra 0 to-read 4.43 2011 Love Quotes for the Ages. Specifically Ages 19-91.
author: Dark Jar Tin Zoo
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Trailer Trash With a Girl's Name]]> 21465598 307 Stacey Roberts Alexandra 0 to-read 3.97 2014 Trailer Trash With a Girl's Name
author: Stacey Roberts
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/10/07
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Pitch Dark 129343 Book by Adler, Renata 160 Renata Adler 0060971444 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.82 1983 Pitch Dark
author: Renata Adler
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1983
rating: 0
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Turtle Diary 40833 182 Russell Hoban 0747548315 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.97 1975 Turtle Diary
author: Russell Hoban
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1975
rating: 0
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The Proper Study of Mankind 87439 637 Isaiah Berlin 0374527172 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.28 1997 The Proper Study of Mankind
author: Isaiah Berlin
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/09/25
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The Colossus of Maroussi 246 244 Henry Miller 0811201090 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.00 1941 The Colossus of Maroussi
author: Henry Miller
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1941
rating: 0
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Tropic of Cancer (Tropic, #1) 249 Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller’s masterpiece, was banned as obscene in this country for twenty-seven years after its first publication in Paris in 1934. Only a historic court ruling that changed American censorship standards, ushering in a new era of freedom and frankness in modern literature, permitted the publication of this first volume of Miller’s famed mixture of memoir and fiction, which chronicles with unapologetic gusto the bawdy adventures of a young expatriate writer, his friends, and the characters they meet in Paris in the 1930s. Tropic of Cancer is now considered, as Norman Mailer said, "one of the ten or twenty great novels of our century."]]> 318 Henry Miller 0802131786 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.69 1934 Tropic of Cancer (Tropic, #1)
author: Henry Miller
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1934
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Edgar Cayce Encyclopedia of Healing]]> 104388 656 Reba Ann Karp 0446608416 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.14 1986 Edgar Cayce Encyclopedia of Healing
author: Reba Ann Karp
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Breaking Hearts: The Two Sides of Unrequited Love (Emotions and Social Behavior)]]> 899126
Blending scientific research with vivid narrative, the book utilizes current psychological theories about relationships, interdependence, attachment, and communication to provide careful analysis of the sometimes amusing and often heartrending stories people tell about their love lives. The central focus is the subjective What it feels like to love someone who does not love you in return, and what is it like to be pursued by someone whose attentions you wish to discourage. Demolishing pat theories about human fulfillment coming from loving or being loved, this valuable counterweight to traditional studies explores the other, darker side of love to show that it is the mutuality of affection that is crucial to happiness.

A particularly valuable feature of BREAKING HEARTS is its unprecedented treatment of the rejector's experience. Known only from the unreliable perspective of the would-be lover, the elusive "heartbreaker" has remained an enigma. Here, perhaps for the first time, rejectors tell what it is like to be loved in vain. They describe their inner turmoil, pervasive uncertainty about how to act, and distressed reluctance to inflict harm. They grapple with the paradox of believing themselves to be morally innocent yet feeling profoundly guilty, and describe powerful feelings of exasperation and helplessness when the admirer refuses to take no for an answer. Contrary to stereotypes, the rejectors describe their experiences more negatively than the heartbroken lovers. For the would-be lover, the encounter was a high-stakes gamble, with possible outcomes ranging from tortured pain and humiliation to ecstatic bliss and fulfillment. To the rejector, it was a no-win proposition that offered only vexation and trouble.

Throughout, chapters deal with the separate roller-coaster ordeals of two people--the ups and downs of self-esteem, struggles over guilt and justification, and the systematically discrepant versions of what actually occurred. Lessons people learn from being either willing or unwilling participants in unrequited love are discussed, as are the ways in which they change following such episodes.

BREAKING HEARTS presents careful research in an engaging style that will be accessible to all. Social scientists interested in marriage, family issues, emotion, self esteem, guilt, and human coping will find the book illuminating. It will obviously be of interest to anyone who has experienced unrequited love, and is fascinating reading for those seeking new insights into the tragicomic mystery of romance.]]>
241 Roy F. Baumeister 0898621526 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.87 1992 Breaking Hearts: The Two Sides of Unrequited Love (Emotions and Social Behavior)
author: Roy F. Baumeister
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/10/23
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Ilustrado 6905480
To understand the death, Miguel scours the life, piecing together Salvador’s story through his poetry, interviews, novels, polemics, and memoirs. The result is a rich and dramatic family saga of four generations, tracing 150 years of Philippine history forged under the Spanish, the Americans, and the Filipinos themselves. Finally, we are surprised to learn that this story belongs to young Miguel as much as to his lost mentor, and we are treated to an unhindered view of a society caught between reckless decay and hopeful progress.

Exuberant and wise, wildly funny and deeply moving, Ilustrado explores the hidden truths that haunt every family. It is a daring and inventive debut by a new writer of astonishing talent.]]>
320 Miguel Syjuco 0374174784 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.40 2008 Ilustrado
author: Miguel Syjuco
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/10/06
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<![CDATA[If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him! The Pilgrimage of Psychotherapy Patients]]> 119390
No meaning that comes from outside of ourselves is real. The Buddahood of each of us has already been obtained. We only need to recognize it.

“The most important things that each man must learn no one can teach him. Once he accepts this disappointment, he will be able to stop depending on the therapist, the guru who turns out to be just another struggling human being.�

Using the myth of Gilgamesh, Siddhartha, The Wife of Bath, Don Quizote . . . the works of Buber, Ginsberg, Shakespeare, Karka, Nin, Dante and Jung . . . a brilliant psychotherapist, guru and pilgrim shares the epic tales and intimate revelations that help to shape Everyman's journey through life.]]>
256 Sheldon B. Kopp 0553278320 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.01 1972 If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him! The Pilgrimage of Psychotherapy Patients
author: Sheldon B. Kopp
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1972
rating: 0
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Conversations With Myself 8113026

Nelson Mandela is widely considered to be one of the most inspiring and iconic figures of our age. Now, after a lifetime of taking pen to paper to record thoughts and events, hardships and victories, he has bestowed his entire extant personal papers, which offer an unprecedented insight into his remarkable life.

A singular international publishing event, Conversations with Myself draws on Mandela's personal archive of never-before-seen materials to offer unique access to the private world of an incomparable world leader. Journals kept on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle of the early 1960s; diaries and draft letters written in Robben Island and other South African prisons during his twenty-seven years of incarceration; notebooks from the postapartheid transition; private recorded conversations; speeches and correspondence written during his presidency--a historic collection of documents archived at the Nelson Mandela Foundation is brought together into a sweeping narrative of great immediacy and stunning power. An intimate journey from Mandela's first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations with Myself illuminates a heroic life forged on the front lines of the struggle for freedom and justice.

While other books have recounted Mandela's life from the vantage of the present, Conversations with Myself allows, for the first time, unhindered insight into the human side of the icon.

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454 Nelson Mandela 0374128952 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.92 2010 Conversations With Myself
author: Nelson Mandela
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[The Sweet Far Thing (Gemma Doyle, #3)]]> 127459
Now, as Gemma approaches her London debut, the time has come to test these bonds. The Order - the mysterious group her mother was once part of - is grappling for control of the realms, as is the Rakshana. Spence's burned East Wing is being rebuilt, but why now? Gemma and her friends see Pippa, but she is not the same. And their friendship faces its gravest trial as Gemma must decide once and for all what role she is meant for.]]>
819 Libba Bray 0385730306 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.98 2007 The Sweet Far Thing (Gemma Doyle, #3)
author: Libba Bray
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/08/02
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<![CDATA[One Taste: Daily Reflections on Integral Spirituality]]> 177160
Wilber's personal writings

•� Details of his own spiritual practice
•� Advice to spiritual seekers
•� Reflections on his work and that of other prominent theorists in the field of integral psychology
•� His day-to-day personal experiences
•� Dozens of his short theoretical essays on topics from art to feminism to spirituality to psychotherapy]]>
368 Ken Wilber 1570625476 Alexandra 0 to-read 4.10 1999 One Taste: Daily Reflections on Integral Spirituality
author: Ken Wilber
name: Alexandra
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/07/26
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<![CDATA[Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story]]> 597
For 6,557 miles, Chuck Klosterman thought about dying. He drove a rental car from New York to Rhode Island to Georgia to Mississippi to Iowa to Minneapolis to Fargo to Seattle, and he chased death and rock ‘n� roll all the way. Within the span of twenty-one days, Chuck had three relationships end—one by choice, one by chance, and one by exhaustion. He snorted cocaine in a graveyard. He walked a half-mile through a bean field. A man in Dickinson, North Dakota, explained to him why we have fewer windmills than we used to. He listened to the KISS solo albums and the Rod Stewart box set. At one point, poisonous snakes became involved. The road is hard. From the Chelsea Hotel to the swampland where Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane went down to the site where Kurt Cobain blew his head off, Chuck explored every brand of rock star demise. He wanted to know why the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing...and what this means for the rest of us.]]>
245 Chuck Klosterman 0743264460 Alexandra 0 to-read 3.86 2005 Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
author: Chuck Klosterman
name: Alexandra
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/06/05
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